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Biotechnology and its Applications

Using Cells to Change the World

  • 2nd Edition - February 9, 2021
  • Latest edition
  • Author: W.T. Godbey
  • Language: English

Biotechnology and its Applications: Using Cells to Change the World, Second Edition introduces students to the world of biotechnology in a way that runs deeper than a mere surv… Read more

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Description

Biotechnology and its Applications: Using Cells to Change the World, Second Edition introduces students to the world of biotechnology in a way that runs deeper than a mere survey. Sections cover basic science, introduce cells, explain how they behave, what they are made of, demonstrate the biotechnological application of scientific principles in the laboratory, and present biotechnologies “in the real world.” Examples include recombinant proteins available to millions of patients, plants that have been engineered to produce food for people around the world, and regenerative medicine that may someday allow patients to receive organs that have been grown from their own cells.

The updated edition has been expanded with the most current information available, with new chapters on gene editing, bioremediation, vaccines and immunotherapy, and processing and manufacturing, thus resulting in a modern, robust, yet highly readable applications-oriented introduction to biotechnology.

Key features

  • Takes an integrated approach from first principles, integrating cell biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, and health science
  • Presents side topics of interest throughout (“gee whiz” topics) to give students quick mental breaks while still extending their knowledge in a practical sense
  • Contains a greatly improved, robust teaching pedagogy to aid student learning
  • Features new chapter learning objectives, chapter summaries, highlighted key terms, more end-of-chapter questions, and a new glossary

Readership

First- or second-year undergraduate biology students taking an introductory course in biotechnology

Table of contents

Unit I – The Cell

1. An introduction to biotechnology

1.1 An agreement with the student

1.2 Misconceptions about biotechnology

1.3 Biotechnology is broad and still expanding


2. Voyage into the cell

2.1 Membranes

2.2 Cellular Transport


3. Proteins

3.1 Amino Acids

3.2 Protein Structure

3.3 The hydrophobic effect

3.4 A return to membranes


4. Genes – The Blueprints for Proteins

4.1 Nucleotides and nucleic acids

4.2 From genes to proteins


5. Cell Growth

5.1 The eukaryotic cell cycle

5.2 Growth curves and their phases

5.3 Mathematics of the growth curve

5.4 Counting cell numbers

5.5 Counting cell mass

5.6 Scale-up

Unit II – Biotechnology in the laboratory

6. Microbial killing

6.1 The Gram stain

6.2 Microbial resistance to killing

6.3 Sterilization, disinfection, and sanitization

6.4 Microbial cell death


7. Cell Culture and the eukaryotic cells used in biotechnology

7.1 Adherent cells versus non-adherent cells

7.2 Primary cells, cancer cells, cell lines

7.3 Care and feeding


8. Fluorescence

8.1 Stokes’s experiments

8.2 Fluorophore properties

8.3 Fluorescence detection

8.4 Fluorescence resonance energy transfer


9. Agarose Gels

9.1 Technical considerations

9.2 Application of agarose gels: gel shift

9.3 Application of agarose gels: DNA footprinting


10. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR)

10.1 Melt

10.2 Anneal

10.3 Extend

10.4 PCR Loops

10.5 An application of traditional PCR

10.6 Traditional versus real-time PCR

10.7 Real-time PCR


11. Genetic Engineering

11.1 Plasmid architecture

11.2 Molecular cloning

11.3 A single plasmid is not enough

11.4 Spectrophotometry

Unit III – Biotechnology in the real world

12. Gene delivery

12.1 Gene delivery vehicles: an overview

12.2 Viral delivery methods

12.3 Physical delivery methods

12.4 Chemical delivery methods

12.5 Preparation of nonviral gene delivery complexes

12.6 What is gene therapy, anyway?


13. RNAi

13.1 Co-suppression

13.2 RNA interference

13.3 miRNA


14. Genome editing

14.1 Targetable nucleases

14.2 Other genome manipulation tools

14.3 Delivery cargo


15. DNA fingerprinting

15.1 Older DNA fingerprinting uses RFLPs

15.2 Newer DNA fingerprinting uses STRs


16. Fermentation, beer, and biofuels

16.1 Glycolysis

16.2 Fermentation

16.3 The production of beer

16.4 Fermentation to produce biofuels


17. Stem cells, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine

17.1 Stem cells

17.2 Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine


18. Transgenics and genetically modified organisms in agriculture

18.1 Ice-minus bacteria

18.2 Bt plants

18.3 Herbicide resistance

18.4 Tomatoes

18.5 Rice


19. Patents and licenses

19.1 Types of patents

19.2 Licenses

19.3 After a license is granted

Product details

  • Edition: 2
  • Latest edition
  • Published: April 20, 2021
  • Language: English

About the author

WG

W.T. Godbey

W. T. Godbey is the Paul H. and Donna D. Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical and Bimolecular Engineering at Tulane University. He received his B.S. in Mathematics from Southern Methodist University in 1988. After a successful period that involved starting his own software design and development company in Dallas, Texas, he joined the fields of science and engineering and earned his PhD as a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow from the Institute for Biosciences and Bioengineering at Rice University in 2000. From 2000-2003 he was a postdoctoral fellow at Childrens Hospital, Boston and Harvard Medical School. He joined the Tulane University faculty in 2003.
Affiliations and expertise
Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical and Bimolecular Engineering, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA

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